Work on Relationships for Success

Successful BNI members will tell you that success involves developing relationships with your fellow members.

The most successful BNI members develop relationships with other members and as a consequence get to know their business in depth and are able to pass on a lot of quality referrals.

Some of the strategies to achieve this aren't too difficult.

Here's a few to ponder:

Be on time or early if you can
When you show up for a group or one-on-one meeting barely in time or late, you send a message to those present that you are not organized and they are not as important as what caused you to be late. When you get to a meeting early, you send a strong message that you are in control of what you do with your time, and that you are meeting with someone important.

Always follow up
This one is so simple but so often overlooked because of the busy lives we lead. After you pass a referral to a BNI member, follow up the following week to see how it is going. If you receive a referral from a fellow member, provide them with an occasional update on the status.

Feed back to the giver of the referral how good the referral was. This helps educate them for the future.

One-to-one meetings
These meeting entail meeting other members at their premises or theirs with the sole purpose of finding out more about each others business in order to increase referrals. Productive BNI members realise that one-on-one meetings are one of the best exercises you can do to get the most out of your BNI membership.

To make the most out of this exercise, try the following:

1. Setting a goal for one-to-ones, say one per week

2. Meet with new members as soon as possible

3. Prioritise the businesses you least understand

Trust takes time!
Relationships are based on trust. You give and get referrals from people you know, like and trust. It takes time to develop relationships that yield results.

Enjoy your networking!